The new State Council, which is in essence the government, is slated to be announced in March 2013 at the 12th National People's Congress.

While much has been made of the transition, there's still a lot of confusion about the structure of the Chinese Communist Party, its make-up, how leaders are chosen and how long they can stay in power.

The first camp consists of the 'princelings' i.e. the children of high-powered revolutionary era officials and the 'Shanghai clique' i.e. they have significant experience running the country's economically strong coastal provinces. China's future leader Xi Jinping is a princeling.

Leaders from this faction, "tend to favor policies that maximize economic growth, with a greater acceptance of growing disparities of wealth; that promote the interests of China’s emerging business and professional classes; and that continue economic policies that benefit China’s more prosperous coastal regions," according to Dotson.

The second camp is the 'tuanpai' and refers to those leaders who have emerged from the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) youth organization. Unlike the Shanghai Clique, these leaders tend to have experience working in the nation's poorer provinces that are further inland and push for policies that would develop these parts of the country and prevent social instability.

"They also tend to share experience working in China’s poorer, inland provinces, as well as experience in 'Party Affairs' work such as propaganda, personnel administration, and the 'united front' management of labor, ethnic, and religious organizations," according to Dotson. Li Keqiang, premiere-in-waiting, has emerged from this faction.

This diverse make-up of the fifth generation is expected to cause some political infighting. It is also said to have been expedited Bo Xilai's downfall since he was known to have angered senior party members. But the fifth generation is likely to put on a united front to avoid a repeat of the political rift that emerged in the late 1980s, culminated in the Tiananmen Square incident and nearly toppled the communist government.

The new face of China

Another reason this handover has received so much attention is because of the number of new leaders expected to take power. The Politburo consists of a group of 25 leaders who lead the communist party. With Bo's dismissal it is down to 24, and 14 of these members are expected to change.